


Sirius Discovers D&D

by AurtisticMind



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Characters Play Dungeons & Dragons, Christmas, Christmas Presents, Dungeons & Dragons References, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay, M/M, Muggle Culture, Muggle Life, Muggles, Remus Lupin Lives, Sirius Black Lives, Wolfsbane Potion, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 06:29:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21506659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AurtisticMind/pseuds/AurtisticMind
Summary: Sirius Black discovers the muggle game of Dungeons & Dragons, and attempts to include Remus Lupin in the fun.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, wolfstar - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Sirius Discovers D&D

Sirius and Remus had recently moved to a little flat in a quiet muggle town. Feeling rather pent up in the small space, and bored of unpacking the dishes - which Remus insisted on washing again, despite the fact that he’d washed them before packing them - Sirius decided to go for a walk.

It was a nice neighborhood. The kind where lawns were mowed and kids roamed about. An unassuming place. While hauling boxes in, one of the new neighbors had stopped by to invite them to a “block party” - which turns out to be a community gathering where food is served. The locals didn’t seem to mind two men moving in together, and weren't too taken aback by the sight of Remus’s scars. He’d taken to telling people he’d been in a bad car accident and people usually wouldn’t question any further. Fortunately the wolfsbane potions did their job and prevented Remus from tearing himself up every month. Sirius considered the cost of the ingredients and the advanced potion making skill to be well worth it to keep Remus safe.

Lost in thought, Sirius continued walking, only to be brought out of his daydreams by the sound of voices.

“I cast fireball at the goblin in the middle. I rolled a 19.” came a feminine voice.

“Your attack hits, roll for damage.” a man’s voice replied.

The rattling of dice on a table top, a moment of silence, and then “Thirty two!” the feminine voice exclaimed.

“The goblin is instantly consumed by the conflagration, and…” the clatter of more dice, “his companions all take damage. The room is now on fire. The curtains are aflame, the furniture is burning. Smoke fills the room. What do you do next?”

Confused and intrigued, Sirius noted that he didn’t smell any smoke, and there didn’t seem to be any fire flickering inside the open window of the shop he’d stopped to eavesdrop under. How would muggles know about goblins anyway, and why would they decide to light one on fire? He looked around and saw a sign at the door several feet away.

**Eddie’s Gaming And Cosplay Supplies**

_Nerds Welcome_

Sirius, his curiosity piqued, stepped into the building. It was a clean little shop, with bookshelves and display cases. Rows of different cards and dice lined the case shelves. To the left were clothing racks and shelving full of costumes and accessories. Off to the right was a large round table with a small group of people seated around it. They all had papers and dice, and a man, a little older than the others in the group, sat at the table behind a small partition; a stack of books and a box full of dice at his elbow.

As Sirius stepped in, the man behind the partition glanced up at him, gave a friendly smile, and said “Feel free to look around. Let me know if you have any questions! I’m just wrapping up here.” to which the other people seated around the table all gave a universal “aww…” of disappointment.

Walking around the small shop, Sirius took in the sights. Collectible “Magic” cards with printed illustrations and instructions for imagined spells or characters. Dice in every conceivable color. The costume area had cloaks, make-up, a top hat, a plastic pirate hook, and “fairy wings” of thin fabric stretched over a wire frame. His eyes settled on a small bin in the back corner of the costume area with a hand-scrawled label taped above it.

_Wizard Wands_

His eyes narrowed as he knelt down for a closer look. They were all made of plastic or resin, all molded the exact same. He picked one up, looked it over, and put it back. How strange that a muggle shop would have fake wizarding items. Of course it wouldn’t do to have muggles having access to real things.

Wandering over to the book shelf, he ran his fingers along the spines of the books until he came across one marked “Monster Manual.” He pulled it off the shelf and opened it up. Full color drawings and descriptions of different creatures filled the pages. A few were so completely wrong that he couldn’t help but smile a bit and let out a quiet snort. Some were creatures that didn’t even exist, and a couple were a little too correct to be randomly guessed by a muggle. Clearly someone in the wizarding community had had a hand in making this book.

The man from the table suddenly appeared at Sirius’s side. “Finding everything alright?” he smiled.

“What game were you playing just now, at the table?” Sirius asked, still holding the book open in his hands.

“Oh, that was our weekly D&D session. We play from four until six every Thursday. You’re welcome to join us next week. I can get you a character sheet and help you roll your stats.” the man seemed genuinely excited to include Sirius.

  
  


The following week, Sirius showed up to the game shop with the character sheet Eddie had helped him to fill out. He’d picked a human wizard, since that seemed to be the easiest option. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was getting in to, but he wanted to know more. He was among the first to arrive and he sat down at the table, his new red and gold dice set ready.

As other players joined the table, they all seemed friendly, greeting each other by their character names, rather than their actual names. Sirius had chosen the name Remus for his character. If he was going to “role play” then he may as well have fun with it, right? He smiled slyly at the joke only he really understood every time he introduced himself to someone new. “Hi, I’m Remus, a human wizard.” he greeted each of the six players who came that day, but he never managed to say it without grinning.

Most of the beginning of the game, Sirius sat back and observed. It was clear that muggles had no idea how magic actually worked, but it was vastly entertaining to see what they thought magic could do - or couldn’t do. Once Eddie (now called “The DM”) introduced a combat situation, Sirius was forced to “roll initiative” and actually engage in the game.

Two players went ahead of him. Sirius squinted at his character sheet, reading through the spells he selected with Eddie last week, considering each one. “I cast Stinking Cloud in the middle of their group.”

Eddie picked up four D20 dice and rolled them behind the little partition. Looking up he announced, “Three of them are now retching and stumbling out of the cloud on your left side. The fourth is making an escape behind the cloud, grabbing the pouch of gems on his way.” Sirius grinned at the make-believe mischief he had caused.

Later that evening, Sirius came back home, his dice in the front pocket of his pants, and his character pages folded and tucked into a back pocket.

“Have a fun play-date with your muggle friends?” Remus asked teasingly without looking up from his book.

“Yeah, actually. Today I got to stink cloud some goblins and we killed a bug bear. I got two hundred fifty XP.” Sirius beamed.

“You… a bug bear? What?” Remus set his book down, a confused look of concern spreading over his face.

Sirius knew just how to bait Remus into a conversation. “Oh, their bug bears aren’t anything like real ones. We had it handled in just a few turns.” Sirius flopped on the couch beside Remus, who was now aware that he’d been goaded into a discussion he didn’t want to participate in.

“You know this game doesn’t make any sense, right? I mean, muggles pretending to play with magic? The spells are all wrong. That’s not how it works.” Remus looked at Sirius, who was so excited with his new pastime. “It’s ridiculous. None of it makes any sense.” Remus whispered under his breath, clearly vexed.

“You should come play with us next week Rem. Maybe you could make some new friends.”

“Thank you, no, I’m sure I can find something more productive to do with my time. Besides, it’s nice and quiet here while you’re out. I can get some reading in.” Remus quipped.

“Well, the sign on the door says ‘Nerds Welcome’ so I’m sure they’d be happy to have you if you decide to come out and socialize.” Sirius lifted one eyebrow and gave a teasing half smile.

“Call me what you like Sirius, I’m not hanging out with your new muggle friends to play absurd imaginary games.” Remus picked up his book and continued reading.

“Suit yourself Remus. You’ll never know what you’re missing out on.” Sirius put his hand on Remus’s knee as he stood up, stalking off to the kitchen.

Remus looked up from his book, watching Sirius as he walked across the room. “Merlin’s beard, you can be so weird sometimes; why do I put up with you?”

“Because you love me, and I can cook so you don’t starve.” Sirius called from the kitchen.

  
  
  


A few months later, it was Christmas morning. Remus and Sirius typically exchanged small gifts, and spent the day cuddled up on the couch. Remus presented Sirius with a small box, wrapped carefully in red and green paper with gold and silver foil snowflakes embossed across the striped design. Sirius hastily opened it, destroying the pristine wrapping in an instant. Inside he found a small assortment of chocolates, and a custom set of solid steel dice.

“I had to track down a muggle blacksmith to have those commissioned for you. I hope you like them.” Of course Remus already knew that Sirius would love them.

Sirius smiled, hugging Remus, “Thank you. They’re wonderful. I’ll put them to good use. But now it’s time for you to open your gift!”

Remus looked around, slightly confused. Sirius had the box of chocolates in one hand and the case of dice in the other, with his I-think-I’m-so-clever smile spread across his face. “Alright then, where’s my gift?” Remus asked.

Excitedly, Sirius set the chocolates and dice on the coffee table, grabbed Remus by the hand, and lead - or rather dragged - him down the hall to the bedroom. As they rounded the corner into the bedroom, Remus was not enthusiastic about where this was going. “You better not pull your trousers off and tell me you’re the gift again, Sirius. I put a lot of thought and effort into your gift this year…” but he trailed off as Sirius let go of his hand and opened the closet door revealing a large stack of books, a folder stuffed to the brim with paper, several notebooks, and a literal colander full of dice.

Remus’s jaw fell open. “I wondered where our colander had gone…”

Sirius interrupted him, reaching into the closet to bring up three of the books from the top of the stack. “I got you the Starter Set, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual… I bought every D&D book Eddie had in the store, and special ordered some too. I had him make copies of character sheets so we could make our own or start with pre-made ones, and I couldn’t decide on which dice to get, so I just bought some of each…” Sirius stopped short noticing the disappointment in Remus’s eyes. “I was hoping you’d play with me Rem. It’s fun, and I want to include you in all the fun things I do.”

“Sirius, I appreciate the effort, and the… expense… of your gift. I’m just really not interested in playing your nonsensical muggle games.” Remus turned to leave the room. “Feel free to keep the books and dice for yourself, or maybe donate them to a muggle charity. Thank you for the effort though Sirius. I know you’re really passionate about this. I’m sorry that our interests don’t always align.” and with that Remus walked out of the room, leaving Sirius clutching books and choking down the rising lump in his throat.

Several days later, Sirius was fast asleep and snoring, and Remus, unable to sleep and not wanting to wake him, decided to get up for a while and see if reading might make him sleepy. Remembering the stack of books still in the closet, just as they’d been left, he decided to take a peek. Something about this had certainly fascinated Sirius, and he still felt guilty for having been disappointed with what was clearly a heartfelt gift.

  
  
  
  


The next morning, Sirius woke up to find that Remus was not beside him. He climbed out of bed, got dressed, and walked out to the living room. There he found Remus, sitting on the floor, surrounded by D&D books, many open and with various paper bookmarks sticking out, notebooks full of hastily jotted notes in Remus’s neat handwriting, dice scattered across the coffee table, and several character sheets filled out and set aside. Remus looked up as Sirius came in, his eyes wide with excitement. “Sirius, go get your muggle friends and invite them over. I’ve got a campaign ready!”

**Author's Note:**

> Sirius came home after meeting Eddie for the first time and told Remus all about rolling a character and picking out spells, but conveniently left out his character's name.
> 
> A colander is the bowl with holes in it you use to strain your noodles.


End file.
